Fluid point sources are commonly used in fluid dynamics and aerodynamics. A point source of fluid is the inverse of a fluid point sink (a point where fluid is removed). Whereas fluid sinks exhibit complex rapidly changing behaviour such as is seen in vortices (for example water running into a plug-hole or tornadoes generated at points where air is rising), fluid sources generally produce simple flow patterns, with stationary isotropic point sources generating an expanding sphere of new fluid. If the fluid is moving (such as wind in air or currents in water) a plume is generated from the point source.
Examples:
Air pollution from a power plant flue gas stack in a large scale analysis of air pollution
Water pollution from an oil refinery wastewater discharge outlet in a large scale analysis of water pollution
Gas escaping from a pressurised pipe in a laboratory
Smoke is often released from point sources in a wind tunnel in order to create a plume of smoke which highlights the flow of the wind over an object
Smoke from a localised chemical fire can be blown in the wind to form a plume of pollution